Tag: israel-palestine

SYRIA Stop me if you've heard this one already, but the Syrian military on Tuesday continued its offensive in the country's southwest, to deadly effect. At least 10 people were reportedly killed in a barrel bomb attack on a village called Ain al-Tineh, while the city of Nawa was subjected to repeated airstrikes, with reports … Continue reading Middle East update: July 17 2018

MIDDLE EAST SYRIA In what was incredibly only the second most heinous atrocity story of the day (see Pakistan, below) a Thursday airstrike on the Syrian village of al-Soussa, near al-Bukamel, reportedly killed at least 54 people, at least 28 of them civilians. This was likely a US airstrike--the anti-ISIS coalition has admitted that it … Continue reading World update: July 13 2018

SYRIA The Syrian military seized the city of Daraa on Thursday, symbolically flying the Syrian flag in the middle of town in commemoration. Daraa is an important tactical victory--you can't control southwestern Syria without it, obviously. But it may be an even bigger symbolic victory, because it was in Daraa in the spring of 2011 … Continue reading Middle East update: July 12 2018

SYRIA Syrian military forces have reportedly surrounded and besieged rebel-held parts of Daraa city. These rebels have presumably rejected the ceasefire deals that rebels in other parts of Daraa province have struck. Syrian forces are also pressuring Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid, a hardline group with links to ISIS that controls some territory in Daraa province. … Continue reading Middle East update: July 9 2018

SYRIA According to Syrian state media, Israeli planes fired missiles at the T4 airbase outside of Homs on Sunday night. That base is used by Iranian personnel and the Israelis have attacked it previously. The Syrian reports say that their air defenses "thwarted" the attack, shooting down several Israeli missiles and hiting one Israeli aircraft, … Continue reading Middle East update: July 7-8 2018

SYRIA While there may be some mopping up to be done, Daraa province is now back in Bashar al-Assad's hands. Rebels there agreed on Friday to surrender their medium and heavy weapons and to either give up fighting or be relocated to Idlib province. As a result, the Syrian government regained control over its important … Continue reading Middle East update: July 6 2018

Well, we're back. As usual when I've been gone for a while this update will mostly stick to things that happened today with some pieces I flagged while I was gone in there for good measure. It will probably be long and there's not much I can do about that. SYRIA Owing to a combination … Continue reading Middle East update: July 5 2018